From THE TIMES
February 19, 2007
By Jacqui Goddard in Miami
MYSTERY PLAGUE THAT KILLS BEES COULD COST US $8 BILLION IN LOST CROPS
Hundreds of millions of honeybees have vanished in 22 US states, leaving keepers financially crippled and jeopardising £8 billion of crops that need the insects for pollination.
Beekeepers report their hives emptying within days because of an unexplained phenomenon known as colony collapse disorder (CCD), which drives swarms spontaneously to abandon their homes and disappear to die.....
LINK TO REST OF ARTICLE:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article1403349.ece
WindSong
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: The beekeeper's response to my questions gives rise to many
: more questions about "Colony Collapse Disorder"
: in my mind. Not all remaining domesticated honeybee
: colonies may "collapse" in the future and if an
: adequate percentage don't, there will be a reason as to why
: those colonies didn't and others did.
: I'm not even convinced yet that what is occurring is a
: disorder. It may be more of a "correction" for
: all I know at the moment.
: I will be looking for honeybees this spring and summer where I
: live. I look for them anyway each year, just because. In
: the meantime I will look for more info on this matter.
: Reader, I hope if you hear anything from your colleagues or
: experience any changes with your own colonies you will
: write to let me know. Even if you have more insights, feel
: free to write. Thank you for your valued thoughts.
: Intuit
: Re: EXCELLENT! A BEEKEEPER WRITES IN!
: Thank you for your kind comments.
: I have no hands on experience with this new problem nor know
: of any beekeepers personally that are having it. The
: interesting thing that I have noted concerning this
: "collapse disorder" is that there are few dead or
: dying bees reported in the hive vicinities. With a
: pesticide kill, the ground around a hive for twenty feet is
: an inch deep with dead or dying bees. It appears that the
: reports state that the bees are dying away from the hives.
: These would be older field bees no longer performing house
: duties. As more house bees are called to field service due
: to field population reduction, less bees are available to
: care for the young and this is in fact being reported.
: My gut feeling is that the bees are somehow losing their sense
: of direction, possibly magnetic, or even via their use of
: polarized light vision. There may be an electromagnetic
: issue, altered sunlight, not sure. The experts and their
: microscopes and labs at the USDA would have picked up a
: micro-organism by now but perhaps not. If I were a gambling
: man, I would bet on a modified light spectrum due to solar
: anomalies, by what means I'm not certain but it ties a lot
: of things together, bird die offs, dead ocean zones,
: chemtrails, all these could hinge on the same cause(s). We
: will soon see.
: Regards.
